FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October 20, 1999
For more information contact:
Kathleen Carpenter, Promotions Director
Teachers.Net http://teachers.net/
SAN DIEGO, CA -- Teachers.Net today released the transcript of the recent live chat with internationally known Multiple Intelligences theorist Dr. Howard Gardner. The well-attended live event took place in the Teachers.Net Meeting Room (http://www.teachers.net/meetings/ ). Educators from around the world were given the opportunity to question Gardner about his "Multiple Intelligences" theory, which is examined and expanded in his latest book, Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century.
Gardner is the celebrated professor of education and co-director of Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and adjunct professor of neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine. The author of sixteen books, Dr. Gardner has been honored with the MacArthur "Genius" award and has been acclaimed as the most influential educational theorist since John Dewey. Gardner's Intelligence Reframed is being lauded as a brilliant state-of-the-art report on how the landmark theory of Multiple Intelligences is radically changing our understanding of education and human development.
During his live chat with Teachers.Net, Gardner defined intelligence as it applies to his theory. "Intelligence refers to the human ability to solve problems or to make something that is valued in one or more cultures. I don't think that you need a fancy instrument to measure intelligences," Gardner asserted. "Ask kids what they are good in, and what they like to do, pose the same questions to parents and teachers, and so long as they agree, then you have a good rough and ready measure of intelligences."
Educators eagerly conversed with Dr. Gardner about an intelligence he has most recently added, the "naturalist," referring to a person's ability to recognize and classify animals, plants, and minerals in the surrounding environment. Another, the existential intelligence "is in limbo," Gardner revealed during the online session. "We are trying to find good biological evidence for it."
An international representation of teachers logged on for the unprecedented opportunity to discuss with Dr. Gardner how the theory of Multiple Intelligences challenges the traditional concept of IQ, whether humor is considered an intelligence, the impact of self-esteem, and many other topics dealing with recognizing abilities. The chat session in its entirety can be viewed in the Teachers.Net Archives (http://www.teachers.net/archive ).
"We were extremely fortunate to offer a live chat session with Dr. Howard Gardner at Teachers.Net," said Dr. Tony Bott, founder and co-director of Teachers.Net. "This live session with Dr. Gardner was a significant step forward in our goal to provide educators around the globe an opportunity to network with top experts in the field of education."
Teachers.Net features live chat sessions almost daily on select, cutting-edge educational topics such as Four Blocks Literacy, assessment, curriculum enhancement, Reading Recovery, and an array of other exciting programs and topics. The mega-site has hosted numerous celebrated experts in education, and currently on their schedule at http://teachers.net/chat/meetings.html are such noted guests as children's music legend Hap Palmer, dramatist Ron Fink, authors Beverly Tatum and Sheldon Cashdan, and school psychologist Beth Bruno.
For further information on the live chat with Howard Gardner, visit http://www.teachers.net/archive. For more information about future celebrities and speakers live on Teachers.Net, visit the on-line meetings page at http://teachers.net/chat/meetings.html.